Driven by the need to continuously improve the performance of industrial operations, the worldwide market for asset reliability software and services should experience growth that will outpace the automation market as a whole, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study.

Valspar Corporation, a global player in the paint and coatings industry, will provide Valspar Aquaguard waterborne coating for shipping containers manufactured in Maersk Container Industry's operations in Dongguan, China. With this agreement, manufacturing of a significant share of dry goods containers will convert from solvent borne coatings to Valspar Aquaguard waterborne coating.

South Africa-based Barloworld, a distributor of international brands providing integrated rental, fleet management, product support and logistics solutions, is targeting six sectors to boost the growth of its business in the western and eastern portions of the continent, says CEO Clive Thomson.

Seventy percent of chief procurement officers (CPOs) say their suppliers do not provide sufficient innovation and value to their companies, according to a new survey by Consero Group, which creates invitation-only events for senior executives. The results were reported as part of the 2013 Global Procurement & Strategic Sourcing Data Survey.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and Consumer Product Safety Commission investigators have seized more than 200,000 toy dolls arriving from China due to high levels of phthalates, a group of banned chemical compounds.